Honoree: Duncan Campbell, Founder

Duncan Campbell’s passion for helping children grew from his own experience as a youth living in a distressed area of Portland, OR. Those experiences eventually led to his founding of four children’s organizations: The Institute for Children, The Children’s Course, Youth Resources and Friends of the Children.

“I was one of those children,” Campbell says of the youth served by Friends. “I believe,” says Campbell, “people have a responsibility to reach back and take care of others, so that they can break the cycle of poverty and become self-reliant, contributing citizens…all through the power of relationships. “

Early on in Duncan’s career, Duncan worked with juvenile offenders and later served as a member of the Governor’s Agenda for Children, as Chairman of the Multnomah County Juvenile Services Commission, and was a founding board member of Children First. In 1997, he served as a delegate to the President’s Summit for America’s Future and has been a speaker at the White House for the Helping America’s Youth Initiative. As Founder and Chairman of The Campbell Group, Duncan has more than 30 years of timberland investment and forest industry experience.

He holds a B.S. degree and a J.D. degree from the University of Oregon, is an attorney-at-law and a C.P.A. Duncan devotes his life to serving children and families and has been closely involved with Friends of the Children since its inception in 1993.